financial aid antitrust settlement
Definition
A legal resolution involving a class-action lawsuit where universities are accused of colluding to limit financial aid awards, often by sharing common formulas to determine student need.
A collective agreement reached by elite educational institutions to end litigation regarding potential price-fixing in the distribution of need-based financial aid.
Examples
He finally received his check from the financial aid antitrust settlement, which covered exactly three overpriced lattes and a textbook from 2014.
The email notification about the financial aid antitrust settlement managed to be both the most exciting and the most depressing financial update of his collegiate career.
Schools were caught coordinating aid like a secret society, and this settlement is effectively the 'sorry for being a cartel' fee they had to pay to keep the lights on.